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Fastest WW2 Fighter plane

Discussion in 'Aircraft' started by broke91hatch, Nov 6, 2008.

  1. Vanir

    Vanir Member

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    Tremendously helpful, thanks AJJ!
     
  2. AJJ

    AJJ Member

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    Hi Vanir,

    You're welcome. Let me know if you get tables, if you don't get them, I'll try to post them here.

    All the best,

    AJJ
     
  3. Thrust

    Thrust recruit

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    Hi AJJ
    What's the best source for this figure?

    Harmann's book says +133HP @ 11.4km, +271HP @ 12.4km, and +409HP @ 13.4km. Was the GM1 dose the pilot's prerogative?

    Where can these tables be found? Is there a book available that has a complete collection, or does one have to go to national archives to find them? So far I've only found two working links to Focke-Wulf tables with Ta 152H data at the LEMB. One badly photographed dated 3.1.45 with everything from the 190A-8 to the D-12, and three Ta 152s. The H-1 is running at 2.03 ata. The other chart is dated 12.1.45, with an A-8, A-9, C-1, and H-1. The H-1 on this chart is running at 1.92 ata.

    Do you know what maximum manifold pressure was used in operational Ta 152H-1s?
     
  4. MVHAGEY

    MVHAGEY Member

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    Anybody know any good charts for this?
     
  5. T. A. Gardner

    T. A. Gardner Genuine Chief

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    I don't know if I'd count the Ta 152 as "operational." Yes, of the tiny handful that were built most ended up going to operational units but, as the pilots using them said they were more like being operationally test flown. The aircraft was anything but production ready really.
    As for prototypes the XP-47J at 504 mph holds the record. The P-72 managed 475 mph and likely as a production plane would have hit 500+. But, it didn't get produced. The DeHavilland Hornet is really more of a postwar aircraft as only a couple of prototypes flew before the war ended. But, it too was one fast aircraft especially for a twin.
    Another fast aircraft, again post war, was the XP-82 Twin Mustang. The P-51H hit 470+ as did its prototypes the XP-51F and XP-51G.
    Some of the Hawker Fury prototypes were right in that range too at 470 to 480 mph.

    What you have to realize is that what the Germans accepted as "operational" was born from desperation while the Allies could take a more reasoned and methodical approach to aircraft development. Most of the Allied prototypes listed above were every bit as fast or faster than a Ta 152 and, they were light-years ahead of it in reliability. That isn't to knock Kurt Tank's abilities or the Ta 152 but a reasoned assessment of late war aircraft development.
     
  6. marc780

    marc780 Member

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    Perhaps the fastest prop-driven aircraft was the unusual twin-engine German DO-335 arrow (474 mph top speed in level flight, with even faster models planned - it was capable of 350 mph on one engine alone).

    An ingenius design, few if any saw combat service. It was ready too late in the war to have any effect anyway.
    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]
     
  7. Kruska

    Kruska Member

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    Hello marc 780,

    I think it is hard to impossible to determine the fastest prop in WWII since too many unofficial and personal "records" were flown.

    On paper the Do335 would indeed be the fastest prop. I recall my father telling me that around April 1945 he flew his Fw190D12? to Oberpfaffenhofen.

    He in his Fw, and a Oberfeldwebel in a Do335 flew for aprox. 40 min in heights between 3000m - 8000m and the 335 had no chance in following him - not so much in upgoing turns but it was totally of when it came to a dive.
    Later on my father just shook his head about this "Monster" and its forwarded capabilities by one of the engineers of Dornier. At the end the engineer admitted of having to adopt the offical permitted version in regards to this aircraft by the Airministry.??

    According to my father his Fw could reach around 800km/h in great heights - till today I wouldn't be sure which Fw he exactly flew - to me it looked certainly like a Ta152, but according to my father it was not. He said it was a Testflugzeug (Testplane) with a DB engine and had a lader system.

    Regards
    Kruska
     
  8. DaveBj

    DaveBj Member

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    Off-topic, and not WWII-related, but several USN pilots flying AD-1 Skyraiders (propellor-driven) shot down North Vietnamese MiG-17s in the mid-1960s.

    DaveBj
     
  9. Hellcat15

    Hellcat15 Member

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    For prop planes as far as I remember the bearcat and Corsair were the fastest
     
  10. Erich

    Erich Alte Hase

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    for the LW the Ta 152H-1 was the fastest prop job they could muster for combat ops, I have the pilot accts for a future title by the way ..... the Do 335 in all variants was a test piece no combat ops performed.
     
  11. ickysdad

    ickysdad Member

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    according to the Spitfireperformance website the P-47M was probably slightly faster then the TA-152 with the P-47N as fast HOWEVER remember that in these tests things like temperature,humidity and other weather/atmosphereic conditions can affect a planes performance so these tests are just snapshots,sort of speak .
     
  12. brndirt1

    brndirt1 Saddle Tramp

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    The P-47N was pretty fast as well:

    The P-47N gave excellent service in the Pacific in the last year of the War, particularly in escorting B-29 Superfortress bombers in raids on the Japanese mainland. P-47Ns were able to escort the bombers all the way from Saipan to Japan and on many other long, overwater flights.

    A total of 1667 P-47Ns was produced by the Farmingdale plant between December 1944 and December 1945, when the Thunderbolt line finally closed down. 149 more P-47Ns were built by the Evansville factory. V-J Day cancellation of 5934 Thunderbolts brought production of the type abruptly to an end.

    Performance of the P-47N-5-RE included a maximum speed of 397 mph at 10,000 feet, 448 mph at at 25,000 feet, and 460 mph at 30,000 feet. Initial climb rate was 2770 feet per minute at 5000 feet and 2550 feet per minute at 20,000 feet. Range (clean) was 800 miles at 10,000 feet.

    From:

    Republic P-47N Thunderbolt

    I couldn't find any real data on the "M" at Joe Baugher's site, and his stuff is always "spot on".
     
  13. ickysdad

    ickysdad Member

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    Here's a site with some good primary documents on various aircraft performance plus Francis Dean's "America's 100,000" is a good source on US fighters.

    Spitfire Performance Testing
     
  14. brndirt1

    brndirt1 Saddle Tramp

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    Thanks for the link, put it directly into my "faves" file.
     
  15. ickysdad

    ickysdad Member

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    One thing about comparing stats is look at the fine print like the wieghts of the aircraft. A F4F-3 for example could loadout any where from 7150 lbs. to well over 8,000 lbs. depending on the amount of fuel BUT even at the lighter wieght it still carried more ammo whilst having more range then most of it's contemporaries. USAAF/USN fighters tended to carry far more fuel and far more ammo allowing far more seconds of firing then their contemporaries so if you reduce their fuel/ammo allowance allowing them the same range/seconds of firing as their contemporaries you will get far different performance specs.
    Another thing is boost the Griffon engine in the Spitfire XIV was only cleared for 21 lbs. of boost(it never was cleared for 25 lbs.) whilst the the Merlin was cleared for up to 25 lbs. of boost. So one maynot be able to compare engines with equal boost because some engines may have been able to handle it whilst others not for whatever reasons.
     
  16. Proeliator

    Proeliator Member

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    The fastest propeller driven fighter of the war would be the Dora-13 which had a top speed with GM-1 engaged of over 770 km/h, but less saw service than the number of fingers you have on your hand so.

    The all time fastest fighter of the war was the Me-262 however, with a top level flight speed of around 900 km/h according to post war RAF testing.
     
  17. ickysdad

    ickysdad Member

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    Maybe,maybe not on the Dora-13. 770 KPH translates to something in the area of 480 MPH(by my figuring is 478.45 MPH) and in that reagard there is evidence that the P-47M, P-51H,P-47J , P-51F/G were every bit that fast if not faster and the P-47M/P-51H were in numbers more then just the fingers of a hand.
    P-47M
     
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  18. macker33

    macker33 Member

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    As far as i know the fastest piston engined aircraft of wwii was the p38 lightning,
    The rocket powered Me163 was definately the fastest of all aircraft.
     
  19. ickysdad

    ickysdad Member

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    According to Bill Norton's " U. S. Experimental & Prototype Aircraft of World war Two , Fighters 1939-1945" the P-47J took flight on 11/26/1943 it achieved 493 MPH at 33,350' a better turbo-charger was fitted later so that on 8/5/1944 it achieved 505 MPH at 34,450' .I t had a ROC of 4900+ FPM. The P-51F was able to eventually hit 493 MPH, The P-51G hit 498 MPH @ 22,800' with a best climb rate of 5882 FPM. Both these P-51's were experimental though but the P-51H which first flew on 2/3/1945 and hit 487 MPH at 25,000' furthermore 370 were actually delivered by 8/19145 so if the war went on just a little longer it definately would have seen combat though there has been speculation it actually entered combat service.
     
  20. uksubs

    uksubs Member

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    A Dora-13 was tested against a Tempest MKV & they found the planes to be a even match ;)
     

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